Metro Sports Report

The Kirkwood men's basketball team climbed a notch to No. 2 in the national rankings this week, but the Eagles will probably slip a few spots after what happened Wednesday night at Johnson Hall.

The Eagles never found their rhythm and were stung by Ellsworth, 81-76, in overtime in an ICCAC conference game.

The Eagles have already clinched the conference title and the No. 1 seed for the NJCAA Division II regional that begins Tuesday at Kirkwood, but their impressive 14-game winning streak is history heading into the final game of the regular season Saturday.

Ellsworth will finish in the second division of the league standings, but the Panthers outplayed the Eagles and deserved to win.

"They beat us in every category," said Kirkwood Coach Bryan Petersen, who could not find any silver linings.

The Eagles trailed by five points with 30 seconds left in the second half, but they forced overtime at 69-69 when Doug Wilson connected for a layup with 3.5 seconds remaining.

Kirkwood scored the first basket in overtime for a 71-69 edge, but Ellsworth outscored the Eagles 12-5 the rest of the way.

The softball players at Southwestern Community College in Creston were bitterly disappointed this winter when the school announced it was canceling the 2018 season because there were only 11 student/athletes on the team.

Now at least two of those SWCC players will be finding an outlet in the Iowa Women's Softball League this summer. It's not the same as a college campaign, but it's the next-best thing in Iowa.

Addison Westercamp, a freshman at Southwestern, contacted the league this past weekend about playing this summer. She has not enrolled yet, but plans to register in the near future.

Westercamp contacted Meghan Gould, another freshman at Southwestern, and Gould promptly enrolled in the IWSL on Saturday. So even though SWCC will not be playing any games this spring, Westercamp and Gould will get to play 16 games this summer.

Gould is a middle infielder who was named to the Blue Grass All-Conference team while attending Murray High School. She lives in Osceola. Westercamp is a third baseman who attended Moulton-Udell High School.

Olivia Goodale, a sophomore All-American pitcher at Indian Hills Community College, also has enrolled for Year 2 of the summer league, putting 32 players in the fold with many more on the way.

CRESTON - The third-ranked Kirkwood men's basketball team claimed the outright ICCAC conference title Saturday afternoon and they did it by edging the 2017 national champs in a thriller.

Doug Wilson had a monster game for the Eagles with 23 points and 13 rebounds, including the go-ahead tip-in with 16 seconds left in an 82-80 verdict over 18th-ranked Southwestern in Creston.

Kirkwood raised its records to 22-4 overall and 10-0 in the conference with its 14th win a row. There are two games left in the regular season, but nobody can catch the Eagles now.

Kirkwood trailed, 80-79, when Wilson tipped in a shot to give the Eagles an 81-80 advantage. The Eagles stopped Southwestern from scoring to preserve the lead, then the Spartans fouled Kirkwood freshman Jay Small to stop the clock and prolong the game.

Small made 1-of-2 free throws for an 82-80 lead, then Wilson stole the ball in the final seconds to preserve the victory.

Chris King popped in 24 points for Kirkwood. LJ Stansbury contributed 14 points for the Eagles.